Silver Coins For Your Soul
by Caz Malfoy
Summary: Alice Harkness has lived in Cardiff for years with no problems, until a figure from her father's past arrives and puts her and the entire city in danger.


**Title:** Silver Coins For Your Soul  
**Pairings:** Reference to Jack/Ianto, slight hints to OMC/Alice  
**Rating:** FMAO  
**Warnings:** Heavy Religious references  
**Summary:** Alice Harkness has lived in Cardiff for years with no problems, until a figure from her father's past arrives and puts her and the entire city in danger.  
**Author's Note:** Thanks to teachwriteslash for beta-ing, bookwrm89 the Spanish help.  
This has been written for round two of the Torchwood Big Bang and was inspired by the movie Dracula 2000.

x

"Come on, move!" Alice Harkness growled, jamming her hand against the horn in the centre of the steering wheel. When the crowd in front of her didn't move, she reached out and flicked a switch, activating the siren on her car.

Eventually, and slowly, the people began to move and Alice was able to make her way slowly through the thin gap the people had created. "Thank you," she muttered sarcastically. "It'd serve you right if I ran you over."

Once she was through the sea of people, she could see that the crime scene had been cordoned off and SOCO were milling around, doing their jobs.

Rain was beginning to fall from the sky as Alice parked the car just outside the edge of the blue and white crime scene tape. She paused for a moment, trying to collect herself, before grabbing the takeaway Starbucks cup from where it was sitting in the cup holder between the driver and passenger seats.

She got out of the car, slamming the door closed behind her and using the fob attached to her keys to lock it automatically, before turning to face their crime scene. Beyond the tape, she could see her partner standing a short distance away with his phone glued to his ear. He was pacing back and forth across the small area and gesturing generously with his hands as he spoke. Alice nodded her thanks to the officer that lifted the tape up for her, allowing her to pass without ducking too much, and slowly made her way over to her partner.

At six-foot tall Alejandro Ramos could easily intimidate any criminal that came his way and Alice had seen him use his impressive height and muscular build to overpower far more attackers than she cared to count. As she got closer, Alice could hear that he was actually conversing with someone in rapid Spanish; she presumed it was his father or brother, his mother having passed away four years before.

He nodded his head in greeting when he saw Alice approaching, before turning his attention back to the phone. By the time she'd reached him, he had finished his call and was sliding the phone into his pocket. "Family trouble?" she asked, the corner of her mouth turning up in a smirk when he scowled deeply.

Alejandro let out a quick torrent of curses in Spanish, before switching to English and glaring at her. "About time, Harkness," he retorted. Despite living in Cardiff for over fifteen years, he had never lost his Spanish accent – although it did have a slight Welsh lilt to it, which some people found jarring upon hearing it for the first time. "We were called almost an hour ago," he added, folding his arms across his chest.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Don't be an arse, Alejandro," she retorted. "You're my partner, not my superior. Just catch me up and let's get out of here before the rain gets really bad." She scowled and pulled her coat tighter against her, "Wasn't the weather supposed to be clear and warm all week?" she muttered darkly, glaring up at the cloudy early morning sky above them.

"You can tell you haven't lived here that long," Alejandro scoffed, shaking his head. "Trust me, Alice; you live here long enough, you'll be begging them to let you on the plane back to the States."

"Just like you've been begging to get on the plane back to Spain?" she responded with a smirk. Alejandro rolled his eyes and tipped his head forward, silently acknowledging that Alice had a point. She grinned smugly, before getting back to the topic at hand – and the reason for their visit to a rainy Cardiff Bay in the early hours of a Sunday morning. "What have we got?" she repeated, nodding across the scene to where SOCO were setting up a tent in an attempt to preserve any evidence that hadn't been collected from being damaged by the water.

Alejandro sighed and turned on his heel, leading her to the tent. "Tom Smith, twenty-five years old, worked in a bank," Alejandro informed her, stopping over the body and looking down with a sigh. "His wallet was found near Starbucks," he added, nodding his head over his shoulder to where the coffee shop was outside the tent. "The money was still in it, and the cards aren't missing."

Alice frowned deeply. "Why take the guy's wallet, but leave everything of value in it when you toss it?" she mused, lifting her coat up and crouching down next to the body. "That makes no sense."

Alejandro bit back a snort of laughter and nodded his head. "If you think that's odd, wait until you see this." He crouched next to her and – after putting on a pair of latex gloves – turned Tom's head to the side.

The young woman frowned and leant closer, inspecting the wound curiously. There were two puncture marks roughly two inches apart on his neck. "I'm no coroner, but I bet these punctured his carotid artery," Alice murmured.

Alejandro nodded his head, carefully placing Tom's head back on the ground. "That's not the strange thing," he stated. "If these marks did puncture his artery, there should be a lot more blood. Question is; where did all that blood go?"

Alice glanced at the scene around them. "Could the rain have washed it away?" she asked, looking up at her partner.

"Nope," Alejandro replied simply. "This is exactly what it looked like when we found the body and that was before it started raining."

She frowned and got to her feet, grimacing as her knees protested the change in position. "No one called it in?" she questioned.

Alejandro grimaced a little, before shrugging his shoulders. "999 got a call about an hour and half ago; they didn't give their name, just that there was a dead body at the bay, before they hung up."

Alice hummed and twisted a strand of her hair around her finger as she thought. "Did they get a recording of the call?" she asked. Alejandro murmured his agreement and Alice nodded her head. "I want that sent to the lab."

Alejandro rolled his eyes and threw her a light glare. "Give me a bit of credit, Harkness," he retorted. "This isn't my first day on the job."

The female DI had the decency to look abashed as she threw him an apologetic smile. Before she could say anything else, one of the other police officers returned to continue examining the scene.

"Looks like today's going to be a long day," Alejandro murmured, heaving a sigh and pulling his coat tighter around the body. "Shall we?" he asked, indicating to the exit of the tent.

Alice mimicked his action and heaved a sigh of her own. "I suppose," she reluctantly said, ducking out of the tent and letting out a string of expletives when she realised how heavy the rain had become, making Alejandro laugh loud as they headed to their respective cars.

They didn't get a single break on the case all day and, by five o'clock that evening Alice was ready to go home and catch up on the sleep that had been disturbed that morning.

She had just shrugged on her jacket and was reaching for her car keys when Alejandro came strolling through the office door, holding his phone in hand. "Not so fast, Harkness," he said, moving across the room to her desk.

Alice scowled and she glared at him. "I thought you'd gone home," she muttered, folding her arms across her chest.

Alejandro grimaced. "I was on my way when DJ called," he informed her.

The female DI's eyes widened at his words; David Jackson was the head coroner and for him to call Alejandro so late in the day clearly meant that he had some information that needed to be shared with them immediately and couldn't wait until the morning.

"Well," Alice said, moving around the desk and heading to the door. "What are you waiting for? Let's go."

The morgue was deserted when Alejandro and Alice arrived a short while later – well, save for the dead body lying on one of the examination tables.

"Any one home?" Alice called as she and Alejandro entered the room.

Alejandro rolled his eyes. "One of these days, one of these guys will answer you," he muttered under his breath. He crossed the room, banging on a nearby door. "Come on, DJ!" he shouted through the wood. "You can't bring us down here and not give us anything."

There was a moment when nothing happened, before the door opened and a tall, thin blond appeared, glaring at Alejandro. "If you'd turned up twenty minutes ago, I would have been ready and waiting for you," he informed the DIs, flicking the light of his office off and brushing past Alejandro.

"Blame Harkness, here," Alejandro retorted, obediently following DJ to Tom's dead body. "She was hungry," he added, throwing her a mocking pout.

Alice glared and punched him on the shoulder. "I haven't eaten anything since lunch," she stated. "I was about to pass out."

Alejandro opened his mouth to argue further, but before he could say anything, DJ interrupted, asking, "Are you children done arguing?"

Immediately they fell silent like siblings who had just been told off by their father. The coroner waited for their nods of agreement, before pulling back the white sheet that was covering Tom.

"When you guys said this was a strange case, you weren't lying, were you?" he asked, resting his hands on the table and leaning forward, looking at the pair of them.

Alice flashed DJ a thousand-watt smile and he rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath about charming DIs who thought they could get away with whatever they wanted.

"This man," DJ stated, nodding down to Tom's still form, "died from exsanguination."

Alejandro sighed and glared at the coroner. "We assumed that already, DJ," he said wearily. "That can't be the only reason you brought us down here."

DJ pierced Alejandro with a glare that was so fierce it made Alice chuckle to herself. "Did you find any blood at the scene?" he asked, turning to look at Alice; clearly he knew that he was likely to get a more sensible answer from her than he was from Alejandro.

Alice shook her head. "Not a drop near the body and SOCO couldn't find any trace of it being washed away, by the rain or otherwise."

"They won't," DJ stated. He reached behind them and grabbed a manila file from the counter nearby. "Normally, when a victim bleeds to death, there is still a trace of blood left in the body; the heart stops beating long before it's pumped all the blood from the wound."

Alice flicked the file open and felt her eyes widen when she saw the results on the paper. "There wasn't a single drop left?" she whispered, tearing her eyes away from the page and looking up at DJ.

DJ shook his head. "And I doubt you'll manage to find a drop of that blood anywhere," he said. "I found DNA around the marks on his neck."

"Whoa!" Alejandro cried, holding his hand up. "Are you saying that someone _bit _this guy?"

"The marks are consistent with teeth," DJ confirmed. "Human canine teeth to be more specific. I've taken mouldings and sent them to the lab for that to be confirmed, but I know I'm right."

The doors opened and DJ's assistants entered, wheeling in a gurney upon which another body lay. "Excuse me," he murmured, stepping around Alice and Alejandro, leaving them alone with Tom's body and heading over to the new corpse.

"What do you think?" Alice asked, looking up at Alejandro and seeing that the other man looked perplexed.

"That there's some guy who's _loco_ _en la cabesa _on the loose and we need to find him before he hurts someone-,"

"Detectives?" DJ's voice cut through Alejandro's answer and together they turned to face him. "I really think you should see this."

Alice and Alejandro exchanged concerned looks, before moving around Tom and over to DJ. The body that just been brought in was that of a young, Asian female, who looked as though she had been in the water for several days. Alice grimaced and took a step back to collect herself and trying not to be sick; she had never gotten used to the smell of a badly decomposed body.

"It'll take me a while to determine for certain," DJ stated, seemingly oblivious to Alice's discomfort - although Alejandro did throw her a concerned look, which she shrugged off. "But, look," the coroner continued, turning the woman's head to the side.

Despite her decomposed state, both Alice and Alejandro could clearly see two marks on the side of her neck, which appeared to the same as those on Tom's throat.

"Do you think it's the same person?" Alejandro questioned.

DJ shrugged his shoulders. "Hard to say," he muttered. "Go," he instructed, "I'll get this young lady cleaned up and see what I can find; if I find anything at all. Getting DNA from the wound might be out, though; but I'll try my best."

Alice nodded; knowing that the water might have too badly degraded any evidence there had been on the body. "You'll let us know?" she asked, placing a hand on DJ's shoulder.

The coroner murmured his agreement, but otherwise didn't look up from his work. He was so engrossed that he didn't even notice Alice and Alejandro leave.

Alice yawned widely, not bothering to cover her mouth. One glance at the clock told her why she was so tired; it was 3am.

She groaned and ran a hand over her face, leaning back in her chair and allowing her eyes to fall closed momentarily. Almost as soon as her eyes were closed, she saw images of Tom's face flash across her eyelids – mingled with the Asian girl whose name they hadn't been able to find out.

At about eight o'clock the night before, DJ had confirmed that both Tom and the girl had died of the same manner – and there wasn't a single drop of blood left in either body.

While Alejandro had headed home – at Alice's insistence – she hasn't been able to stop her mind from running through each scenario. Every theory she had considered had led her to one conclusion, but she had been determined to prove herself wrong – there was no way the rumour mill in the police station could be right about what kind of creature the killer was. There just couldn't be.

She had become so determined to prove that there was a human reason – and a human killer – behind what was going on, that she had spent the rest of the evening going through the unsolved case files. It had taken her three hours, but she managed to find another ten case files, before being told to go home by the night shift DCI.

Reluctantly, Alice had headed out of the office and gone home – but not without taking the case files with her.

She glanced around the files on her desk and sighed again. If she had thought they would prove the cases were unrelated and human in origin, she had been proven wrong.

Each murder had taken place between the hours of sunset and sunrise. No money or cards had been taken from any of the victims. The murders had been too far apart for anyone to make a connection between them and none of the victims knew each other, or had ever had any form of contact as far as Alice could tell.

She was reluctant to admit it, but she had a feeling that Alejandro had been right when he'd muttered something under his breath before leaving that evening. Maybe there was a _vampiro _in town – a vampire.

Alice heaved a sigh and glanced at the clock once more. While it was the early hours of the morning in Cardiff, back home in Chicago it wasn't even midnight.

She threw one last look at the files, before deciding that she didn't have a choice; she needed the help of an expert.

Alice pushed herself to her feet and slowly crossed the living room to where she had thrown her handbag on the couch a few hours before. After rummaging around for a moment, she managed to find her phone at the bottom of the bag. There was a message from Alejandro, but it wasn't anything important – just to make sure that she wasn't still at work; she didn't bother replying, he'd presume she was already in bed or something.

Manually scrolling through the names, Alice paused with her finger over the call button when she found who she was looking for.

Shaking her head and berating herself for being such a baby, she pressed the button and held the phone to her ear, waiting for the ringing to stop.

She was almost ready to put the phone down and call back later that when it was finally answered, she jumped a little in surprise and was momentarily speechless.

"Hello?" the male voice repeated on the other end of the line, snapping Alice out of her trance.

"Hi, Dad," she greeted, slumping down onto the couch and resting her feet on the coffee table.

There was a pause, before, "Alice?"

She rolled her eyes, although there was a small smile curling the corners of her mouth. "Yeah; unless you've got another daughter you haven't told me about."

Her father chuckled deeply and Alice grinned widely; it had been far too long since they'd spoken and she hadn't realised how much she had missed him. "What are you doing up? Isn't it like four in the morning there?" he demanded, putting as much authority into his voice as he could.

Alice laughed and rolled her shoulders. "Three thirty but close enough," she corrected. "I… I need your help, Dad," she whispered, her fingers tugging at the sleeve of her oversized hooded sweatshirt. "I think he's back."

It was almost ten o'clock when Alice ran into the police station, cursing at herself for being late.

"I knew you didn't leave here when you said you were going to," Alejandro stated, not even looking up from his desk when he heard Alice fall into her seat and groan tiredly.

"How do you even know I didn't just sleep in?" Alice demanded, pulling her hair into a ponytail and brushing her fringe out of her face.

Alejandro rolled his eyes. "Harris said that he had to kick you out of here at about eleven last night," he informed her. "Working yourself to death isn't going to make solving the case any easier."

She smiled tightly at him and tapped two fingers to her temple. "I swear I'm not going to 'work myself to death'," she assured him.

They both jumped in surprise when her phone started ringing. "What the-?" she muttered, pulling it out of her pocket and glaring at the display screen. "Great," she grumbled to herself, getting to her feet and kicking the chair back underneath the desk. "I'll see you later," she said, making her way to the door.

"Whoa!" Alejandro exclaimed, running after her and blocking her exit. "Where'd you think you're going?" he demanded, placing his hands on his hips and glaring down at her.

Alice rolled her eyes and stepped around him. "Chasing up a lead," she lied easily. "Don't worry, if anything comes of it, I'll let you know."

Before Alejandro could stop her, she ran out of the building and down the stairs, dialling her father before she had even reached the bottom. He had already gotten bored of waiting for her to answer and put the phone down.

"Where do you keep your spare key?" her father answered the phone as she crossed the car park. "I've looked under the door mat and above the door, it's not there. And I can't see a pot it could be under, either."

Alice rolled her eyes and pushed the door open, heading out to her car. "I don't have a hide-a-key," she retorted. "That's stupid; anyone could get in. I said I was going to pick you up from the airport _tomorrow, _Dad."

"I took an earlier flight," he muttered and she could practically see him shrugging his shoulders. "Where are you?" he added.

"I'm at work, Dad," Alice snapped, turning the key and starting the car. "Stay there, I won't be long," she added, cancelling the call and throwing it on the passenger seat as she pulled out of her parking space.

When she pulled the car up to the house, she couldn't help smile at the familiar figure she could see sitting on her doorstep. Even though it had been at least two years since they had last seen each other, Jack Harkness hadn't changed one bit. His hair was still the same style and colour, and she was pretty sure his eyes were twinkling as she watched her park the car.

"You look like a little kid who's being punished," she stated, getting out of the vehicle, slamming the door and heading up the path.

Jack looked up at her with a wide grin on his face. "Hey," he greeted, getting to his feet and pulling her into a hug before she could stop him. "You look beautiful," he added, taking a step back and holding her at arm's length so he could get a better look.

Alice rolled her eyes and extracted herself from his grip. "I look exhausted," she corrected. "Not beautiful." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her house keys, brushing past Jack so she could unlock the door.

Jack frowned deeply and followed her inside, pulling his suitcase – which had been sat waiting at the bottom of the steps – across the threshold and closing the door behind him. "That's what you get for being up that early in the morning," he stated, crossing the room and pulling his coat off as he moved. "You weren't lying when you said that there were a lot of cases, were you?" he asked, dropping his coat onto the couch and sitting down in her chair. On the edge of Alice's desk sat a pile of cases; each of them roughly two inches thick.

Alice shook her head and followed him, picking up several of the case files. "These go back about five years," she informed him, sitting on the edge of the desk and handing him the folders. "Not including the cases we're working on at the moment, there are ten cases where the victim died from being drained completely. If you include the open cases, we're looking at twelve deaths."

Jack frowned deeply and flicked through the folder. "And you think this is him," he said, his voice more of a statement than a question.

Regardless of the fact that he hadn't actually asked her a question, Alice still felt compelled to answer. "From what I can tell, a newborn wouldn't be this careful about not being caught," Alice stated. "These killings are careful and calculated, Dad. It's almost like he's trying to tell us something or prove himself."

Jack nodded his head, never taking his eyes off the reports. "These killings have been getting closer to Cardiff," he finally stated. "Have you got a map?" he added, looking up at Alice.

"Somewhere," she answered, getting to her feet and disappearing out of the door. It took her ten minutes, but eventually she returned with a rolled up map in her hand.

Jack smiled in thanks as he took the map from her and knelt down on the floor, using his and Alice's mobile phones and two remote controls to hold the corners down as he opened it up.

Alice, realising what her father wanted to do, opened one of the drawers in the desk, withdrawing half a set of stickers and handing them to Jack. "Where did the first murder happen?" he asked, looking over his shoulder at her.

She reached out, picked up the top file and flicked it open. "Erm," she murmured, sitting in the chair he had vacated as her blue eyes skimmed the file. "Ah, here; Louisa Maybethany was murdered in Pickering."

Jack nodded and placed a sticker over the city in North Yorkshire. "Next was… York, right?" Alice agreed and he added another sticker to the map.

This continued until they'd reached Cardiff and Jack knelt back on his heels, looking down at the map. They'd marked ten cities: Pickering, York, Leeds, Huddersfield, Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, Birmingham, Worcester, and Newport.

"You missed Cardiff," Alice stated, pointing to the map. Jack rolled his eyes and placed two stickers over the city, a slightly smaller sticker on top of a larger one. "For two murders?" Alice ventured a guess, chuckling to herself when Jack nodded. They were silent for a moment as Alice studied the map, tracing the path from Pickering all the way down to South Wales. It wasn't a straight line, and not something she would have ever noticed if Jack hadn't said something, but there was definitely a path leading to Cardiff. "You were right," she murmured, the sense of dread that was already in her stomach intensifying tenfold as she acknowledged her father's theory.

Jack nodded his head. "I bet I can work out where he started from as well," he added, pressing his finger to one exact point on the map, just North of Pickering.

Alice leant forward so she could see where he was pointing. "Oh, come on, Dad," she muttered when she realised where he was indicating and rolling her eyes. "Don't you think that would be stupid of him? That happened, what, over a hundred years ago?"

Jack sighed and looked back down at the map. "You were right; he is trying to tell us something; well, me, at least. He's sending me a message," he said after a moment, running his hand through his hair. "He wants me to know that he's getting closer."

Alice glanced down at him. "You live back in the States, Dad," she reminded him. "What would he get out of coming to Cardiff?"

Jack raised an eyebrow and looked at her intently. "I can think of one very important thing that would draw him here," he stated.

It took a moment, but when she realised the meaning behind his words, her eyes widened in surprise. "Me?" she asked, her voice raising an octave as she stared at him.

He nodded his head. "You're the only flesh and blood I have; and he knows that." Jack paused for a moment, before sighing heavily. "I want you to come home," he decided.

Alice snorted with laughter and shook her head. "You know I can't do that, Dad," she said softly, running her hand over her hair. "I've got a job to do; I can't just run away."

Jack huffed in annoyance and got to his feet, moving over to the sofa and sitting down. "Your job isn't worth your life, Alice," he said. He looked down at his hands for a moment, before lifting his head and looking across at Alice. "I can't protect you if you're all the way over here," he added.

Alice rolled her eyes. "So, stay here for a while," she retorted with a shrug of her shoulders. "But, I can't just up and leave, Dad," she repeated firmly.

Jack leant back and ran his hand through his hair in a mannerism that Alice knew she had inherited from him. "I knew you wouldn't agree to leaving," he muttered darkly. "You're far too stubborn sometimes," he added a smirk turning up the corner of his mouth.

She grinned at him and got up from the chair. "I wonder who I got that from," she smirked at him. "I have to get back to work," she added, pulling her coat back on and picking her keys up from where she had dropped them earlier.

Jack jumped to his feet. "Are you mad?" he demanded. "I've just told you that the most dangerous vampire in the world could be after you, and you're still planning on going to work regardless?" he asked incredulously.

Alice nodded her head. "Yup," she replied simply. "They're going to know that something's really wrong if I don't get back soon. So, unless you want to answer awkward questions for me, I'm going to have to go." She bent down, pressing a kiss against his cheek, before standing upright once more. "Love you, Dad," she whispered, jogging across the room to the door and slipping out.

As soon as the door closed behind her, she pulled out her phone and began hooking up her hands-free kit as she made her way back to the car. After starting the engine, she called Alejandro, hoping that he wouldn't be too mad at her for disappearing without saying anything. Her hopes were shattered when he answered the phone with an irate, "Where the hell are you, Harkness?"

Alice winced slightly as she turned the car out into traffic. "On my way to the office," she answered.

There was a pause for a moment, before Alejandro instruction. "Don't bother. We've just got a call about another body on Queen Street; came in about five seconds ago."

Alice swore and swung the car around so she was heading in the opposite direction. "Do we know anything about the victim?" she asked, trying to get herself caught up on the particulars of the case as she tried to navigate traffic.

"Nothing more than she was 19 and a student at the University," Alejandro answered. "_Nos vemos allí,_" he added, before cancelling the call. Alejandro used Spanish phrases so frequently that she had long since been able to work out that he'd just told her he'd see her there.

When Alice arrived at the scene less that five minutes later, she discovered that she had actually managed to beat Alejandro. Uniformed officers had cordoned off the area and SOCO were already milling around, going about their tasks as they collected evidence.

The scene was outside a bank on the corner of the street and there was already a thin crowd of people standing at the tape, watching the proceedings. In the background, Alice could hear some of them complaining that they couldn't get into the bank itself because of the dead body, while the others were whispering their theories about what could have happened. Thankfully, none of the theories matched Alejandro's and Alice was glad about that; keeping sensitive information about the case quiet was difficult at the best of times. Alice knew that the instant the press got wind of the vampire rumour, they would have panicking citizens to deal with and reassure – even if she was sure they had every right to be worried.

Forcing back a sigh, Alice dodged around a rather large woman who seemed adamant that she wasn't going to move for the DI and ducked under the crime scene tape. "What have we got?" she asked, crossing the area and stepping up to the nearest officer, nodding to the scene in front of them.

The woman – who appeared to be the same age as Alice – didn't look up from her work for a moment. Alice forced herself to hold in another sigh as she waited for the woman to place the evidence in a bag and seal it, before looking up at Alice.

"The Coroner is examining the body," the woman stated, pointing over to the tent a short distance away, which Alice presumed DJ had erected to keep out prying eyes. "We've got some shoe prints and trace evidence here that seem to match yesterday's scene," she continued, snapping Alice's attention away from the tent.

Alice swore under her breath and muttered her thanks as she heard a car pull up a short while away. "Alejandro," she called, jogging over to her partner. She waited until Alejandro was past the tape and a sufficient enough distance away from the onlookers, before informing him, "SOCO have found evidence that's consistent with our other scene."

Alejandro scowled and kicked at the ground in annoyance. "Fuck," he muttered. "I was hoping this'd turn out to be unrelated after all."

Before Alice could say anything else, there was a shout of their names and they looked over to see DJ sticking his head out of the tent. "I think there's something you need to see," he added. He was wearing a look of irritation on his face and Alice had to wonder exactly how long he had been trying to get their attention.

When they crossed the scene and ducked inside the tent, Alice's immediate realisation was that – as with the previous victim – there was no blood surrounding the young woman's body. "Is it the same MO as yesterday?" Alice asked, hoping that – despite evidence to the contrary – DJ would agree with her that it was a different murderer.

DJ sighed and nodded his head. "Unfortunately," he answered. "It definitely looks like you've got a serial killer on your hands."

Alice and Alejandro both groaned – Alejandro muttering something in Spanish under his breath that Alice couldn't hear - and threw despairing looks at each other. "So we have two – possibly three – people who may have killed by the same psychopath," Alejandro reviewed their situation.

Alice murmured her agreement as she tried to run things over in her mind and figure what they could do. "Did you find anything on the floater that came in last night?" she asked, watching as DJ crouched next to the body.

"Nothing useful," he answered regretfully. "Cause of death was the same as Tom Smith; but the body had been in the water for too long to get any useable DNA from the wound."

Alice nodded her head, biting her bottom lip in thought. "There should be some DNA from this bite, though," she mused, glancing down at the body at their feet.

DJ mumbled his agreement and reached into his kit, pulling out a clear evidence bag. "As usual, I'm one step ahead of you," he retorted, placing the evidence bag in his kit and refocusing his attention on the body in front of him. "I'll get this to the lab, but it'll take at least a few days before we know anything about it; even longer if you want a full DNA profile."

The DI's nodded their heads in unison as they watched DJ turn the victim's head to the side, feeling the flesh with the tips of his fingers. "The neck hasn't been broken," he stated.

"So whoever did this felt confident enough that they could subdue her without having to break her neck," Alejandro mused. "That would rule out any females."

Alice raised an eyebrow and looked up at him. "Excuse me? A woman can be just as strong as a guy." Alejandro snorted with laughter and shook his head. "Trust me; I could wipe the floor with you, Ramos."

"Please," Alejandro scoffed. "I'd kick-,"

"Children!" DJ snapped, rolling his eyes when he saw the bashful look on the DI's faces. "You might want to see this."

Together, Alice and Alejandro crouched down next to him. There was a wound on the back of the victim's neck. "Has that been caused by a… a knife?" Alice asked, pulling on a pair of gloves and inspecting the wound closer.

DJ nodded his head. "I don't know for certain yet, but it looks like it could have been made with a penknife; or something similar," he added. "She was dead before this was done, that much I do know."

"No haemorrhaging in the wound?" Alice guessed and DJ shook his head. "Do you think it says something?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she tried to make it out.

"Looks like a bunch of random cuts to me," Alejandro stated, mimicking Alice's actions and looking at the wound intently.

DJ exchanged a look with the evidence recovery technician. When he received a nod of approval from the young woman, he rolled the body over so they would see the back of the victim's neck easier. He reached into his kit and drew out a magnifying lens. "Take a closer look," he instructed, holding the lens over the wound.

In unison, they leant forward, gasping when they say that Alice had been right; the cuts weren't random, as Alejandro had initially thought. Etched clearly on to the skin of the victim was L224.

"What the hell does that mean?" Alejandro breathed, leaning back on his heels and looking over at Alice with a curious expression on her face.

Alice, however, didn't answer; she had a feeling she knew what the writing was referring to; she just hoped she was wrong. Otherwise, Jack was right; she was in a lot of danger.

Jack sighed and put his mobile phone down on the desk, drumming his fingers against the shiny surface as he thought about what Alice had just told him. As far as he was concerned Alice had been right about what the cryptic message - L224 - meant.

He brought his hand up and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. It was getting late and Alice had called to let him know that she was staying at work for a little longer. Heaving another sigh, Jack got to his feet and grabbed his jacket; he could feel a headache coming on and hoped that a short walk in the fresh air would clear his head.

The weather was cool for the summer and Jack fastened his coat around him as he continued walking; there was a light wind that ruffled his hair, but Jack was just glad it wasn't raining.

At the waterfront, Jack paused and leant on the railings, looking out over the bay; watching as the water hit the dock beneath his feet.

For a moment, Jack didn't move as he stood there, watching the waves. Suddenly he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and he slowly stood upright. Cursing himself for not bringing a gun, he turned on his heel and looked at the surrounding area.

There didn't appear to be any one around; but Jack knew from experience that he couldn't trust his eyes alone. He contemplated calling out, but decided against it; figuring that whoever was watching him knew that he was there even if he didn't say anything.

After almost ten minutes of Jack surveying his surroundings he heard a horrifyingly familiar voice state, "You haven't changed."

Jack heaved a sigh and glared at the area where it sounded as though the voice had come from; as he expected, there was no one there. "I didn't realise you'd become a ventriloquist," he retorted, his eyes still sweeping the area.

A harsh laugh responded and Jack felt a shiver go down his spine at the lack of warmth in the chuckle. "You're not going to find me, Ja- It _is _Jack now, isn't it?"

He didn't answer, and there was another laugh that was even more sarcastic than before. "Jack Harkness," the voice purred. Jack's back stiffened at the other man's words. "You didn't think changing your name way going to keep you hidden from me; did you? You see, I've done some research and found out a few interesting things about you, _Jack_."

Jack tried to plaster a look of irritation on his face as he turned on his heel and stalked away from where he had been standing near the water.

There was a laugh and he heard footsteps following him; although, when he looked around, he couldn't see a figure in the surrounding area. "Alice is beautiful," the voice whispered, sounding far closer to Jack that it had been earlier.

Jack immediately stopped in his tracks and slowly turned around, to find a painfully familiar figure standing in front of him; looking as youthful and attractive as he had the last time they had seen each other.

"Stay away from her," Jack snarled. "I mean it, Ju-,"

"Ianto," the other man supplied before Jack could finish the word, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smirk. "Ianto Jones. You're not the only one who's allowed to change his name."

Jack's eyes narrowed as he glared at 'Ianto'. "If you touch even one hair on her head, I will kill you," he swore.

Ianto laughed and rolled his own eyes. "You wouldn't do that," he purred, reaching out his hand and running his gloved finger down the side of Jack's cheek. "You've had plenty of chances in the past."

Before Ianto could react, Jack batted the hand away and grabbed the other man by the lapels of his jacket, curling his fingers around the material as he gripped him tightly. "What happened in Whitby-," Jack growled.

The corners of Ianto's mouth turned up in a smirk. "That was a good night," he whispered, reaching and running his fingers across Jack's hip.

Despite the shiver that ran through him at the touch, Jack growled, "Get off me!" He finally released Ianto, pushing him away and taking a step back himself. "What happened in Whitby was a mistake. I was stupid enough to think that you'd changed," Jack stated. "Believe me; it won't happen again."

Ianto pouted and fluttered his eyelashes, before disappearing before Jack's very eyes. "We'll see," his voice said from behind Jack, making him jump. "You've never been immune to my charm," he added.

Jack felt a soft kiss against the back of his neck – a kiss that made his knees feel a little weak, regardless of how much Jack berated himself - before Ianto disappeared. After scouring the area and determining that the other man had vanished completely, Jack took off at a run, heading for Alice's house where he had parked the rental car he had picked up at Cardiff International Airport.

Alice had a problem; she knew this, yet she had no idea what she was supposed to do. She was pretty sure she knew who was committing the murders; but she knew there was no way they would be able to capture and prosecute the murderer if she was right.

The door opened and Alejandro came storming in with a scowl on his face. "What the hell's wrong with you?" she asked, leaning her elbow on the desk and watching as her partner made his way over to her.

"DJ just gave me this," he stated, slamming a manila file down in front of her and slouching down into the chair at his own desk. "We are officially screwed," he added, running his hand over his face wearily.

Alice frowned deeply and flipped the file open. She felt her eyes widen when she saw the paper and the information the results contained. There had been no usable DNA in the wound; Alice's only hope of proving that it wasn't a vampire had vanished. Jack had been right all along.

"I… I've gotta go," she murmured, grabbing the file and her bag, before getting to her feet and running out of the office.

Alejandro scowled and jumped to his feet. "Wait!" he cried after her. "You can't just run off." When Alice didn't stop, Alejandro sighed, grabbed his jacket and ran after her.

He followed her out of the building and across the tarmac to where she had parked her car. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" he demanded.

Alice didn't answer as she unlocked the car door and climbed in. Growling in annoyance, Alejandro yanked the passenger door open before she could respond and climbed into the vehicle as well.

"Get out," Alice instructed, speaking to her partner for the first time since she had gotten up from her desk.

Alejandro shook his head. "Not until you tell me what's wrong with you," he instructed.

She was silent for a moment, before stating, "You wouldn't understand."

The other police officer glared at her. "Try me," he challenged.

Alice rolled her eyes. "No, I mean it; you wouldn't understand." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her mobile phone; dialling Jack. "Dad, where are you?" she greeted when her father answered the phone.

Alejandro tried to follow her and Jack's discussion, but it was impossible when he could only hear Alice's half of the conversation.

"I'll meet you there," she said after a moment, severing the connection and placing the phone in the ashtray, which was as clean as it had been the day the car had been bought.

"Are you going to tell me what that was about?" Alejandro asked, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms across his chest.

Alice groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose with her thumb and forefinger. "I can't," she murmured, closing her eyes momentarily. Alejandro opened his mouth to argue further, but Alice opened her eyes and continued before he could say anything. "I'll have to show you; otherwise there's no way in hell that you'd believe me."

She sighed again and reached over; opening the glove compartment, she slid the file she had taken inside. "It's a long drive," she warned him.

Her partner shrugged his shoulders and leant back in his seat, getting comfortable. "I'm good," he muttered.

Alejandro soon found out that Alice hadn't been lying when she'd said that their destination wouldn't be around the corner. It took them almost an hour to get there and most of the time they had been travelling down turning country roads. For the first half an hour or so, Alejandro had tried to keep track of where they were, but he'd long since given up, figuring that it was pointless anyway.

Just when Alejandro was starting to wonder if Alice had been lying all along – the thought that she was the killer and taken him to the middle of nowhere to get rid of him did cross Alejandro's mind; although he quickly dismissed it and blamed the idea on his overworked brain – Alice turned a corner and announced, "We're here."

Alejandro followed her gaze out of the windscreen and scowled when he saw what she was approaching. It looked like an abandoned mine shaft, Alejandro thought. Although, the rental car parked in front made it look less abandoned.

"Where's here?" he asked, unfastening his seatbelt and waiting until she stopped the car before getting out.

"Officially this place doesn't exist," Alice replied, a slightly mysterious tone to her voice. She locked the car and pulled out a different set of keys - these ones old and slightly rusted. "Come on," she added, leading Alejandro over to the metal gate that stood several feet in front of a broken wooden door.

Silently, Alejandro waited for her to unlock the padlock before following her through the gate to the door. "This doesn't look very solid," he stated, bringing his hand up and placing it on the wooden door. His eyes widened in surprise when he felt that the door wasn't made of wood as he had originally thought, but it was made of cold – and probably thick – steel.

Alice laughed at the surprised look on his face. "Didn't expect it to be made of metal?" she asked. When he shook his head, she chuckled again. "Trust me; what's hidden down here is far too precious and sought after for a wooden door to protect."

She thumbed through the keys for a short while, eventually stopping when she reached the largest. "Come on," she instructed, placing the key in the lock and pushing the door open.

Alejandro watched as Alice stepped inside and entered a code on the numeric pad. The other police officer jumped back when a wall slid to the side, revealing a long corridor that seemed to go on forever.

Alice chuckled at the alarmed look on Alejandro's face. "Try to keep up," she said, sliding the keys into her pocket. "If you get lost down here, I haven't got time to come back for you."

The other police officer huffed indignantly and stuffed his hands in pockets. "I'm not stupid enough to get lost," he muttered, following her when she took off in a march.

"It's not a matter of stupidity," Alice said over her shoulder as she turned a corner, leading Alejandro down another long corridor that looked exactly the same as the previous one. "This place is a maze; you're not supposed to be able to find your way around. It was designed to keep people out, not let them in."

Alejandro frowned deeply. "Then, how do you know where you're going?" he demanded, having to jog a little to keep up with Alice's fast pace.

"My dad's been bringing me down here since I was five years old," Alice answered, coming to a stop at the end of the corridor and pressing her hand against a palm reader; waiting for it to recognise her, before the door unlocked and slowly opened. "After you," she added, stepping to the side and allowing Alejandro to step into the lift.

As soon as Alice was in the lift and the door closed behind her, Alejandro felt his stomach lurch as they began their descent into the depths of the hills. "How far down are we going?" he breathed.

"Very far," Alice responded, glancing at her mobile phone and scowling when she remembered she wasn't going to have a signal. "Do me a favour, okay?" Alejandro raised an eyebrow and looked over at his partner. "There's a lot of valuable stuff down here, so just… don't touch anything, okay?"

Alejandro rolled his eyes, grimacing a little as the lift reached the bottom and his stomach lurched. "I'm not a little kid, Harkness," he muttered. "I think I can refrain from touching things and-," he trailed off when the doors opened, revealing a room that was only comparable to Aladdin's cave of wonders.

"Oh, wow," Alejandro breathed, following Alice out of the lift and looking around the room. It was filled from floor to ceiling with all kinds of antique items. He placed his hands in his pockets, trying to resist the urge to reach out and touch the nearest item. He had a feeling that Alice would shoot him if he broke her no touching rule.

Alice led him down the middle of the room, around the large table in the centre. Alejandro followed her and was unable to keep his gasp of surprise in when he saw that there were intricate carvings in the tabletop. "Is that… That says Aggravaine," he murmured, reaching a hand out but stopping short of touching the table. "This can't be what I think it is, can it?" he asked, following Alice through the treasure trove.

The female police officer didn't stop walking as she called, "That depends," over her shoulder. "If you think it's the Round Table, then yes."

Alejandro's eyes widened even further and he jogged to keep up with her. "That's not possible," he stated, placing his hand on her shoulder and turning her to face him.

Alice sighed heavily and ran her hand over her hair. "Oh this is going to be difficult to explain," she muttered to herself. "I don't even know where to start."

"Maybe I could help?" Jack's voice asked from behind Alice and she spun around in surprise, letting out a sigh of relief when she saw her father.

Alice winced and threw Jack an apologetic smile. "Sorry I didn't tell you I was bringing Alejandro with me," she murmured, walking towards Jack, not stopping until she was standing in front of Jack. "He wouldn't take no for an answer."

Jack smiled at her and Alice was relieved to notice that he didn't look as pissed off as she had expected him to be. "It's okay," he assured her, placing a hand on her shoulder and squeezing gently. "We're going to need all the help we can get," he added. "I saw _him_ yesterday."

Alice gasped and her eyes widened as she immediately began giving Jack the once over; making sure that he was still in one piece and that her eyes weren't deceiving her. "Are you okay?" she asked when she discovered that she couldn't see anything physically wrong with him.

Jack nodded his head and took a step forward, pressing a kiss against her forehead. "He didn't do anything but talk," he assured her. "He's as cocky as ever, though. But, I was right, he is after you; which is why I wanted you to come here."

Alejandro reached out and tapped Alice on the shoulder, tearing the female police officer's attention away from Jack. "Sorry to interrupt," he said. "But when one of you decides to speak sense, I'll be waiting over here," he added, taking a step back from them and folding his arms across his chest as he waited.

Alice chuckled and smiled apologetically at her partner. "Sorry," she murmured. "Alejandro, this is my dad, Jack. Dad," she added, looking over at her father, "I've mentioned Alejandro, right?"

Jack nodded his head and reached out a hand, shaking Alejandro's, before releasing him and taking a step back. "What's Alice told you about what's going on?" he asked, looking at his daughter's partner.

Alejandro threw a glare at Alice and muttered, "Nothing," through clenched teeth.

The other man chuckled and shook his head, smiling affectionately at the unrepentant look on his daughter's face. "I think you'd best come with me," he said, looking back over at Alejandro. "You're probably going to have to sit down while I tell you this."

Alice smiled at the confused look on Alejandro's face and placed her hand in his, pulling him after Jack as the other man turned on his heel and lead them out of the room.

As they left 'the vault' - as Alejandro had started thinking of the room - they walked out into a short corridor with two doors leading off it. One looked as heavily guarded as the entrance miles above them. Jack turned the handle on the second door, pushing it open and leading them into an office.

"Have a seat," he instructed, nodding to the couch that was pressed against the longest wall of the room.

Alejandro hesitated, only snapping out of his daze when he felt Alice pull him down onto the couch.

Jack sat down on the edge of the desk and folded his arms across his chest. "Are you religious at all?" he asked, looking down at the police officer who was sat next to Alice.

Alejandro shrugged his shoulders, leaning against the back of the couch. "We used to go to _misa_ – mass - back home, but we were never really interested in what they had to say. Why?" he asked, frowning deeply as he looked at Jack.

"Okay, that makes this both easier and harder at the same time," Jack mumbled to himself. "My name isn't actually 'Jack Harkness'," he stated. He hesitated again, before sighing heavily and rolling his eyes, "I suppose there's no other way to say this, so I'll just come out with it; my name is actually Joseph of Arimathea."

Alejandro's eyes widened as he stared at his partner's father for a long moment, before looking over at Alice with a disbelieving expression on his face. "What kind of _loco_ place have you brought me to?" he muttered under his breath.

Alice snorted with laughter and rolled her eyes, punching him in the arm. "Just shut up and listen," she instructed. "You said that you wanted to know what was going on, so I figured I'd best start at the beginning."

"And by 'beginning' she means almost two thousand years ago," Jack added with a smirk when Alejandro almost choked on his own tongue.

His daughter sighed and lowered her head. "Subtle, Dad," she muttered, turning her head and glaring at him. "Very subtle."

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "We don't have time for subtlety," he retorted with a petulant expression on his face. "I take it you remember enough from mass to recognise the name?" he asked, looking back at Alejandro who was still looking stunned.

Slowly Alejandro nodded his head. "You-," He licked his lips nervously. "You're not joking, are you?" he finally managed to ask.

"Sorry," Alice whispered, taking Alejandro's hand in hers. "It's the truth."

Alejandro whistled and rubbed his hands over his face. "I shouldn't believe you; what you're saying is crazy. But somehow I…" he trailed of with a shake of his head.

Alice grinned and patted him on the arm. "That's called faith," she whispered, earning her a glare from Alejandro. "Don't worry, I'm not going to turn into a preacher on you; I'm not religious either."

Her partner stared at her with an incredulous expression on his face. "Your father is Joseph of Arimathea, yet you're not religious?" he asked.

Jack laughed and got to his feet. "It's a little more complicated than that," he said, moving back to the door. "Come on. I've changed my mind; I think it'll be easier if I show you while I'm telling you the story."

Alejandro jumped to his feet so fast it made Alice chuckle. "Easy," she whispered, sliding her hand into his and squeezing it reassuringly as she followed Jack.

"I was born over 2010 years ago," Jack informed Alejandro as they made their way back into the vault.

"Wow," Alejandro murmured and Alice wasn't sure whether it was in reference to the artefacts or Jack's admission; she figured it was more likely to be a bit of both. "That… Wouldn't that make you older than Jesus?" he asked.

Jack nodded his head. "I hope so, since he's my baby brother," he said with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders.

Almost immediately, Alejandro stopped in his tracks and swayed dangerously. "Couldn't you have thought of a better way to say that?" Alice demanded, catching Alejandro before he could pass out properly.

"Sorry?" Jack offered with a smile that was neither sincere nor regretful.

Alice rolled her eyes. "Just help me get him over there," she instructed, nodding over to the table Alejandro had noticed earlier on.

Jack's eyes narrowed when he realised that she intended to sit her partner in one of the chairs. "I don't think so," he stated. "Did you miss the part where I taught you that everything in here is priceless, young lady?" he demanded, putting his hands on his hips.

She glared at him and half-carried, half-dragged Alejandro toward the aforementioned table. "He's not going to ruin it," she muttered. "Just pick a Knight you didn't like and I'll sit him there," she instructed.

Jack sighed and pointed one of the seats. "Gareth?" Alice said with a note of surprise in her voice as she managed to arrange Alejandro in the chair. "Really?"

Her father shrugged his shoulders. "He was an annoying drunk," he muttered, looking down at Alejandro; noticing that he did look a little paler than he had earlier. "Are you okay down there?" he asked, nudging Alejandro's foot with the toe of his boot.

"Here," Alice said, reaching into the handbag Alejandro hadn't even realised she still had and pulling out a bottle of water. "Drink this," she added, unscrewing the lid and handing the bottle to Alejandro. "Just don't put the bottle on the table; otherwise Dad really will kill me."

Alejandro chuckled weakly and took a sip of the liquid, handing it back to Alice before looking up at Jack with a look that bordered on reverence. "I feel like I should be kneeling down, or something," he mumbled, wiping the back of his hand over his mouth.

Jack grimaced and sat down – albeit carefully – in another one of the chairs, while Alice opted for sitting on the floor in front of Alejandro; she wasn't a hundred percent certain he wouldn't fall off his seat and wanted to be able to catch him if he did. "Please don't," Jack pleaded. "That would be awkward."

"You see, Alejandro," Alice said, looking up at him. "The thing is; Jesus-,"

"Gray," Jack interjected. "His birth name was actually Gray; he changed it when he was in his late teens. He didn't think Gray was a name worthy of the Son of God."

Alice rolled her eyes. "Do you want to finish the story for me?" she snapped. Jack shook his head and held his hands up in defeat as he leant back, allowing Alice to finish. "Gray wasn't the first child Mary gave birth to by immaculate conception," she continued. "Ten years before that she gave birth to Dad."

Alejandro lifted his gaze from Jack who nodded to confirm Alice's story. "So… Why aren't _you _the recognised Son of God?" he questioned, a nervous edge to his voice.

Jack grimaced and looked down at his daughter, who shook her head and indicated that he was the one that had to explain. He heaved a sigh and looked back at Alejandro. "I didn't want to be," he confessed softly.

"You… You didn't want to be?" Alejandro couldn't help splutter. "But… why the hell not?" he asked, before wincing at his choice of words. "Oops, sorry," he murmured, looking at Jack apologetically.

Alice laughed and rolled her eyes, leaning back on her hands. "Don't worry," she scoffed. "Like I said, we're not religious, so you can say whatever the fuck you want."

Jack sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "Before we get completely off track, maybe I could answer Alejandro's question?" Alice held her hands up in surrender and fell silent. "The simple answer is that I was never comfortable being the centre of attention." Alice snorted with laughter and Jack glared at her. "I know, it's hard to believe; but it's true," he insisted.

Alejandro nodded his head. "It makes sense," he murmured, trying not to act like a small schoolgirl; even though he wasn't religious, he was still feeling slightly in awe at being sat next to Jack.

"I know this is a lot to take in," Alice said, reaching up and placing her hand on Alejandro's. "But… there's more," she whispered.

The other police officer groaned and looked at her with a pleading expression on his face. "What more could there _possibly _be?" he asked.

Alice grimaced and pushed herself to her feet, wiping any dust from her trousers. "The reason I brought you down here and explained all this to you is… We think that the person who committed the murders we're investigating is linked to Dad."

"Who?" Alejandro asked, resting his elbows on his thighs and he leant forward intently.

Jack and Alice exchanged looks, before Jack nodded. "Judas Iscariot," Alice said simply. Alejandro laughed and rolled his eyes. "You believe us about everything else, but _that _you find difficult to believe?" the female police officer scoffed with a shake of her head.

Alejandro placed his hand over his mouth, trying to stop himself from laughing. "I'm sorry," he apologised, his voice muffled by his hand. "It's just…. Judas?" he repeated, an incredulous tone in his voice. "How would that even work? If you ignore the fact that he committed suicide over two-thousand years ago, the blood from each victim had been drained completely – how would he do that?"

Alice ran her hand over her face and looked over at Jack imploringly. "Could you explain?" she begged. "You're better at it than I am."

The sigh Jack let out was exaggerated and fake, but Alice still threw him a light glare. "You're right," he informed Alejandro, pausing for a moment as he tried to collect his thoughts. "Judas Iscariot _did _kill himself; everything you know about him up to that point is true. He did betray Jesus-,"

"You… You can call Him 'Gray' if you want," Alejandro interrupted, his face flushing a little with embarrassment. "If it's easier, I mean," he added.

Jack grinned at him and nodded. "He did betray Gray for money and he did kill himself afterwards."

"Out of guilt," Alejandro murmured; that was one of the few things he remembered from church.

The other man shook his head. "Actually, that's where the Bible was edited. He didn't feel guilty for betraying him; he never felt remorse for what he did."

Alejandro frowned deeply. "Then why would he do that?" he questioned, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth as he thought about what could have driven the man to suicide.

"He was facing being lynched by Gray's followers," Jack stated. "He…" The older man broke off, closing his eyes momentarily and taking a deep breath. When he opened his eyes, his gaze fixed on Alejandro, and he continued his story, "He betrayed the one person they all trusted more than anyone else. Mob mentality isn't a new development, you know?" he asked, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smirk.

Alice rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Focus, Dad," she instructed, earning her a light glare from her father.

Jack ran the tips of his fingers over the name etched on the table before him as he collected his thoughts. "No doubt you've heard of the legend of Dracula," he stated. When Alejandro nodded, Jack mimicked his action. "It's not actually a legend," he confessed. "Bram Stoker merely wrote about half of the story."

Alejandro's eyes widened as he stared at Jack, disbelief clearly written all over his face. "I… You… You've got to be kidding me!" he eventually managed to splutter. "Dracula and…" He shook his head, running his hand over his face as he tried to take in what Jack was suggesting. After a moment, he lifted his head and looked at Jack with a raised eyebrow. "Are you trying to tell me that Dracula is actually Judas Iscariot?"

Jack nodded solemnly and folded his arms across his chest. "Back in 1884 a ship named the Demeter ran aground in Whitby, North Yorkshire. Each member of the crew was found dead – including the Captain – and the only cargo the ship appeared to be carrying were empty crates from Transylvania. I was visiting an acquaintance of mine at the time - Gabriel Vanholsing. I'd been hunting Judas for so long and Gabe was deeply interested in the occult and supernatural; I thought he might be able to help me find a way to kill Judas."

"Gabe got a call from one of his former students, John Stewart," Jack continued. "His daughter's friend Lucy had been taken ill and none of them could work out what was wrong with her. I tagged along with Gabe to Whitby and, when we got there, it wasn't long before Lucy passed away. Mysteriously her blood had been drained from her body."

Alejandro exchanged glances with Alice. "Do you think that's what's going on now?" he asked his partner.

Alice sighed and nodded her head. "Yeah," she agreed. "Dad… Do you want to explain what happened when Judas died?" she requested, throwing Jack a meaningful look; the longer they stayed in the 'vault' explaining things, the more innocent people's lives were being put at risk.

"Not really," Jack confessed, the corners of his mouth turning up in a small smile. "But I will," he added. "You were right when you said that Judas killed himself," Jack conceded, looking back at Alejandro. "But, he also didn't stay dead." He took a deep breath in, before slowly exhaling as he tried to collect his thoughts. "I… I watched Judas string himself up on that tree. He hung there all day, until the rope came unfastened and he fell. Little over an hour after night fell, he got to his feet. He pulled the rope away from his neck and walked away."

Alejandro jaw fell open in surprise as he stared at Jack. "He walked away? After he'd been dead all day?" he asked, amazement evident in his voice.

Jack nodded. "I never found out how he managed it, but I think the devil got to him and they made a deal; he wouldn't die if he walked the earth and drained other's of their life force," he theorised, his voice little more than a whisper. When Alejandro opened his mouth, Jack rolled his eyes. "Yes, there is really a devil; no, I've never met him."

Alejandro's mouth closed with a snap and Alice laughed, shaking her head at the expression on his face. "Since then, Judas has been killing people by draining their blood."

"He's also created a small vampire family," Jack added. "But, from what I can tell, he hasn't had much of anything to do with them for about fifty years. He seems to prefer his own company now." He glanced over at Alice and winced when he realised that she was going to be mad at him when he told her what had happened the day before. "I have a confession," he whispered, throwing her an apologetic look.

Alice raised an eyebrow and stared at her father. "I don't like the sound of that," she said slowly, folding her arms across her chest as she waited for him to continue.

"Last night, I went for a walk to the Bay and bumped – almost literally – into Judas," Jack stated. "Although, he's calling himself 'Ianto' now."

Alejandro frowned deeply, his forehead crinkling in confusion. "Ianto?" he repeated. "That's a Welsh name; a form of 'John', if I remember correctly." Alice looked at him in surprise and Alejandro rolled his eyes. "Unlike you, Harkness, I decided to learn something about Wales when I moved here." She stuck his tongue out, and Alejandro snorted with laughter and turned his attention back to Jack. "Why would he change his name to that if he's only in Cardiff to get under your skin?" he asked, glancing over at Jack. The older man looked at him with a puzzling expression and Alejandro shrugged his shoulders. "I figure the reason he's in Cardiff is because he knows you've got family here; and I can't think of a better way to get under someone's skin than focus on their relations."

Jack grinned and glanced over at his daughter. "I like him," he stated, nodding over to Alejandro, laughing when the tips of the younger man's ears turned red in embarrassment. "But, you're right; Alice is the reason why Judas has come to Cardiff. As for him calling himself 'Ianto'…" He shook his head, running his hand through his hair. "It is a Welsh name; but it's also a Hebrew name. It essentially means 'God is gracious'," Jack said, sitting back and folding his arms as he let the statement hang in the air.

"He's really trying to piss you off, isn't he?" Alice eventually stated.

Her father nodded. "It's working," he stated. "So," he added, a decisive tone in his voice. "Do you think we're crazy after everything we've just told you?" he asked, looking over at Alejandro.

The police officer shook his head quickly. "Of course not," he stated. "It's a little hard to get my head 'round, but I do believe you. But, I do have a question," Alejandro said, blushing lightly as he glanced at Jack. The older man nodded, silently indicating that Alejandro should ask away. "How did Bram Stoker find out what happened in Whitby? I'm assuming he's real, and it's not you writing under a pseudonym."

Jack laughed. "No, I didn't write the book," he assured the Welshman. "We were foolish thinking that a simple stake could kill him and Judas got away from us. I hung around for a couple of days, before heading to London and drowning my sorrows with several bottles of scotch. There was this Irish guy sitting at the bar and we got to talking; after a couple of hours, my tongue was even looser than it normally is and I couldn't stop myself telling Stoker what had happened."

Alejandro's eyes widened and Jack continued, "I woke up the next morning in bed at the B&B I'd booked myself into and, to this day, I still have no idea how I ended up there. I presume I'd taken someone home with me, I just don't know who it was - even now. Two years later, Dracula hit the shelves and there were too many things that were the same for it to be a coincidence."

"Did you talk to Stoker?" Alejandro asked, looking over at the other man.

Jack shook his head. "I was pretty annoyed at first, but I couldn't find him. By the time I eventually did track him down it was five years later, and Judas had been silent ever since the book's release. I figured I actually owed Bram for helping me out – if he hadn't published the book, Judas would have never gone silent - so I kept my mouth shut and let him think he'd imagined everything when he'd been drunk one night."

Alice shut the water off and carefully stepped out of the shower, yawning widely. She had been about to go to bed when a phone call from her boss had told her that she was needed at the police station within the hour. She'd briefly considered telling her boss to stick it, before changing her mind and agreeing; she liked her job and didn't want to have to find a new one.

She'd hoped that a shower would wake her up, but instead it had succeeded in doing the exact opposite; all she wanted was to climb under the covers and fall asleep until the next morning. She quickly towel dried herself and dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt; if she was going into work when she wasn't due to, she sure as hell was going to wear what she wanted.

Trying to remember where she'd thrown her boots earlier that evening, Alice padded out of the bedroom and down to the living room. As she located them under the coffee table, she felt someone's eyes on the back of her head. Straightening up, she glanced around as she tried to decide if she could manage to grab her bag – and the gun inside – before the intruder realised.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Heart hammering in her chest, Alice slowly turned around and found that the room appeared to be empty. She scowled to herself and moved over to her bag – despite what the voice had instructed. "Only a coward would hide," she called out, feeling like an idiot for talking to someone she couldn't see.

Before she had reached her bag, there was a slight breeze and the bag appeared to vanish before her very eyes. "I said, I wouldn't do that if I were you," the voice repeated as the owner finally stepped into Alice's line of sight, holding the bag in his hands.

If asked Alice knew she would deny it completely, but she had to admit that she finally understood why so many people had fallen under his spell over the years. He was gorgeous; his dark hair framed his chiselled features perfectly. "How did you get in here?" she demanded, trying to take a step back, only to find that she couldn't move her feet at all.

Ianto chuckled - a sound that seemed to come from deep inside his chest – and shook his head, pulling the gun out of Alice's bag. "I don't know how much you know about me, but you should know that a simple lock is no match for me," he informed her, throwing the bag on the couch and sliding the gun into the waistband of his trousers. "Your father has told you about me, I presume," he purred, stepping closer to Alice. She tried her hardest to move once more, only to find that she was still glued to the spot somehow.

Alice's eyes darkened at Ianto's mention of Jack. "I know all about who you are and what you did, _Judas_," she spat.

To her surprise, instead of retorting angrily, Ianto laughed heartily, the sound hollow and cold enough to send shivers down Alice's spine. "I presumed as much," he confessed. "But I doubt he's told you how _close _we were," he whispered, slowly moving so he was standing behind the young woman. "I don't think he'd want you to know how _intimate _we were," Ianto added.

Despite her fear – or maybe because of it – Alice shivered when she felt a pair of soft lips press against her neck. She leant into his touch for a moment, before coming to her senses and pulling away; she couldn't actually move as she was still rooted to the spot. "Get off me!" she hissed, turning her head to glare at the vampire.

Ianto laughed and captured her lips in a passionate kiss that made Alice's knees go weak. "You taste just like him," he whispered, reaching up and brushing her dark fringe away from her face. Alice's eyes darkened and she jerked her head away from him, making Ianto laugh again. "What would it take for me to taste the rest of you?" he purred, running the tips of his fingers over her hip.

"A miracle," Alice spat, a shudder running through her as she jumped away from his touch; a shock of surprise running through her when she realised she could move again. "If you don't get out of here right now, I'll kill you," she stated.

He let out another laugh that made Alice shudder. "You're just like your father," he purred. In the flash of an eye, he was standing beside her and running his fingers through her hair. "So stubborn and cock-sure of yourself. Unfortunately, that's what is going to get you killed."

Alice was about to either push him away, or step back from him; but then she looked into his eyes and found herself rooted to the spot once more. "What… How are you doing that?" she demanded, trying with all her might to move and scowling when she realised that she was as paralysed as she had been earlier.

Ianto snickered to himself, and brushed her hair away from her neck. "A little trick I picked up from a man in India." He pressed his face against her skin and inhaled, surrounding himself with her scent and the hum of blood running through her veins. "I'm almost sorry to say this, but you're going to help me," he added, moving around so he was standing in front of her.

"I'm not going to do anything!" Alice snapped, trying to look anywhere but at the man before her. When she refused to meet his gaze, Ianto placed a hand under her chin and forced her to make eye contact. A moment later, her features relaxed somewhat and she asked, "What do you want me to do?"

He grinned and let out a murmur of approval. "You, Alice, are going to help me kill your father."

Jack was comfortable for the first time all night. He'd been trying to drift off to sleep since early evening – it had seemed as though jet lag was quickly starting to set in – but hadn't been able to position himself comfortably enough so he'd drop off to sleep. About ten he'd finally managed to fall asleep, only to be woken less than five minutes later by the ringing on his mobile phone.

He reached out, grabbing the phone from the bedside table and glancing at the display. He scowled when he saw whoever was calling him wasn't anyone in his phone book. "What?" Jack snapped, connecting the call and putting the phone to his ear. There was silence on the other end of the phone and he huffed in annoyance. "Look it's midnight-," Maybe he had slept longer than he'd originally thought. "So if you don't tell me who you are, I'm putting the phone down on you."

"Señor Harkness?" a familiar voice asked, but Jack couldn't place it. "It's Alejandro," he added, clearing away any confusion from Jack's voice.

Jack frowned deeply and pushed himself into an upright position, running his hand over his face. "Alice's partner, Alejandro?" he asked, yawning widely. When he received confirmation that he was thinking of the correct person he asked, "Why are you calling me at midnight? And how did you even get my number?" he added as an after thought, realising that he hadn't given it to the police officer.

There was a sigh on the other end of the line and when Alejandro spoke, Jack couldn't help but notice the strained tone in his voice. "It's Alice, Mr Harkness."

Immediately Jack felt more awake and he was climbing out of the bed before he'd even realised what was happening. "What do you mean?" he snapped, pulling the jeans he had been wearing the night before on and reaching for a shirt.

"She's gone missing, Sir," Alejandro whispered and Jack dropped the phone in horror.

Alejandro was already waiting outside for Jack when he pulled up to the front of the police station. Thankfully, there was no one around; Jack knew it would look off to see Alejandro climbing into the car of a stranger.

"What's that?" Jack asked as he nodded to the papers Alejandro was holding in his hand.

The police officer sighed and unfolded a piece of paper, showing it to Jack. It was actually a photograph of a wound; presumably, from one of the victims they had been investigating. "Do you have any idea what this means?" he asked softly.

Jack studied the picture for a moment, before pulling his mobile phone from the console between the driver and passenger seats. Quickly accessing the mobile Internet function, he keyed his suspicions into Google and hit search. He let out a growl of annoyance when the results confirmed what he had suspected. "Luke 22:4 tells of how Judas gave information about Jesus to the Chief Priests and Captains," Jack stated, closing the Internet and placing the phone down once again.

Alejandro's eyes widened as he realised what Jack was saying. "Luke 22:4," he whispered. "L224." Jack nodded his head and Alejandro whistled. "Alice was right, he really is trying his hardest to piss you off."

"And it's working," Jack growled. He took a deep breath to calm himself, before nodding to the other piece of paper Alejandro was holding. "What's that?" he asked.

The police officer unfolded it and Jack saw that it was a computer printed map of, what looked like Cardiff. "I tried to trace her mobile phone, since she never goes any where without it," Alejandro explained. "The last time it got a signal was at her house not too long before I called you; she wasn't answering her phone, so I think it might still be there."

"But if she hasn't got it with her, how is that going to help us?" Jack snapped; he knew he was being mean and taking his frustration out on Alejandro, but he was worried for his daughter.

Alejandro, however, seemed unfazed by Jack's irritation. "I thought that too. Then I realised that she has a police issue car; it might not be marked, but it's still a cop car. And it has GPS in it," he explained, a small smile spreading across his face. "The system isn't instantaneous; it will only produce exact locations every fifteen minutes."

"That's shit," Jack stated and Alejandro nodded. "Where was the last location registered for her?" he asked, turning his head so he could look at the map easier.

Alejandro pressed his finger to the paper. "They were here, near Ninian Park train station," he stated.

"Can I see that?" Jack asked, plucking the map from Alejandro's hands and rotating it so it was the right way around to him. "That's near the St John the Baptist Parish Church," he stated. "I'm going to fucking kill that bastard!" he growled, handing the paper back to Alejandro and turning the key in the ignition. "That's where he's taken her," he informed the police officer, anger and confidence in his voice.

Alejandro frowned deeply. Jack could sense him hesitate, before he asked, "How can you know for sure? If he's got her, we can't afford to make mistakes."

"I'm not wrong," Jack assured him. "Judas has taken her there, because this is to get to me. Everything about this is to piss me off and lure me into a trap. St John the Baptist was my cousin; he baptised both Gray and I. Judas knows that."

Alejandro nodded his head, grimacing as Jack manoeuvred the car around a bend slightly faster than was strictly legal. "Don't you think…?" He groaned in pain when Jack drove straight over speed bumps, never taking his foot off the accelerator. "If you know it's a trap, why are we walking straight into it?" he finally managed to ask.

"Because she's the only family I have and I can't let him hurt her," Jack stated, his voice barely more than a whisper.

When they arrived at the church it was dark and neither of them could see any signs of life coming from inside. "Do you really think they're here?" Alejandro asked, climbing out and following Jack around the car. Jack nodded his head and opened the boot, pulling back a black bin liner and revealing a silver sword that glistened in the moonlight. "Is that a sword?" he squeaked, his eyes widening in disbelief.

"Yeah," Jack replied, picking up a silver chain before slamming the boot closed. "Take this," he instructed, handing the chain to Alejandro.

Alejandro swallowed nervously and closed his fingers around the chain. "Are you sure this is the best idea?" he whispered.

"We don't have a choice," Jack said. "You focus on getting Alice out of there; I'll deal with Judas."

The other man hesitated for a moment, before nodding his head and swallowing, tightening his grip on the chain in his hands. Jack quickly stalked away from the car, Alejandro hot on his heels. He headed around the church, trying to see if there was anywhere Ianto could have entered.

"Here," Alejandro called from where he was standing several paces ahead of Jack. He turned and saw the police officer standing near a door that was slightly ajar.

As they entered, Jack placed his hand on Alejandro's shoulder. "Be careful," he cautioned with a serious expression on his face.

Alejandro nodded, tightening his grip on the weapon in his hand. "You too," he murmured, following Jack down the hallway.

Even though it looked as though the church was dark from outside, in reality there were candles scatted around the hall. Jack swore under his breath when he saw the priest lying across the altar. Jack quickly moved down the centre of the room and crouched down next to the priest; pressing two fingers against the unmoving man's neck, trying to feel for a pulse. "He's dead," he whispered, lowering his head and making the sign of a cross; he might not be conventionally religious, but he still felt the need to show some kind of respect to the priest.

Jack heaved a sigh and turned his head to the side, looking around them for some indication about where Ianto could be. "Where does that go?" he asked, nodding to a door on the other side of the altar.

Alejandro followed Jack's gaze and headed to the door, pulling it open and revealing a flight of stairs. "Is there an upstairs?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder at Jack. The older man shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe the roof?" Alejandro suggested.

Jack jumped to his feet, picking the sword up from where he had placed it on the floor when he'd checked on the priest. He was about to make his way over to the stairs, when a figure stepped out of the shadows and he immediately brought the sword up, ready to attack.

"Hello, Dad," Alice stated, stepping into what little light there was.

Jack shuddered at the tone of her voice; it was hollow and emotionless. "I'm going to kill him," he growled, knowing that Ianto had to have done something to her for Alice to act how she was acting. "What did he do to you?" he asked his daughter.

Alice smirked and took a menacing step closer, her eyes shining brightly in the semi-darkness. "Nothing. You're not jealous of me, are you, Dad?" she purred. "He told me all about the relationship you had with him," she added.

Jack sighed and lowered his head. "I wish I could tell you that he was lying. But I can't," he confessed. "But, this isn't you, and I'm not going to have this discussion with you when you're under whatever kind of spell he's put you under."

He reached out and took the chain from Alejandro. "You stay with her," he instructed, glancing back over his shoulder at Alice who was rolling her eyes at them. "Don't let her get the upper hand on you. If I'm right and he has her under his spell, she'll be stronger than usual. Don't be afraid to hit her; she'll forgive you in the morning."

Alejandro snorted with laughter and turned back to his partner as Jack headed up to the stairs to where they presumed Ianto was waiting for him to walk into the trap that had been set.

Jack reached the top of the stairs and discovered that they had been right; the stairs led to a flat roof. He glanced around him, realising that behind the front of the church there was a flat roof, which overlooked the surrounding houses and area.

"I knew you'd come here," a voice purred from behind him and Jack paused in his step, slowly rotating on his heel and turning to face the other man.

Jack sighed and tightened his grip on the sword. "You should have stayed away from Alice, Judas," he whispered menacingly. "You can't be stupid enough to think that I wouldn't hunt you down when you decided to make her your target."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "You've been hunting me down for centuries, and you've never managed to go through with your promise to kill me."

Jack's eyes narrowed as he glared at the other man. "Believe me; I intend to fulfil it tonight. When you went after Alice you signed your own death warrant."

Ianto snorted with laughter and rolled his eyes. "You've had the chance to kill me plenty of times in the past," he reminded Jack. "Or did you forget that I've bested you every time?"

"You never bested me," Jack spat. "I let my own foolish feelings control me; but that won't happen again."

"The last time you had the chance to kill me, it was 1897," Ianto continued, ignoring Jack's words. "You thought a simple stake could kill me; but I managed to fool you again. That's the problem with you, Joseph; you never think. I didn't get to survive this long by being easy to kill."

Jack growled in annoyance and lunged at Ianto, his sword raised and ready to take off Ianto's head. He'd had enough of the other man's baiting; he was going to end things once and for all.

The vampire laughed and easily blocked the attack with his own sword. He stepped to the side and turned to face Jack, who looked murderous. "Typical, Joseph," he murmured, a mocking pout on his face. "Always rushing in without assessing the situation first. You're never going to kill an enemy like that," he critiqued with a shake of his head.

"Thanks for the pointers," Jack retorted with a roll of his eyes. "When I saw you rise again, I swore I wouldn't stop until I'd brought you down."

Ianto laughed and raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that you want to die?" he scoffed.

Jack glared at him and moved his sword from one hand to the other. "I want to rest," he eventually whispered. "For almost two thousand years, I've hunted you. When I get rid of you, I can finally rest and go home."

Ianto laughed and rolled his eyes. "Did it ever occur to you that the reason you can't die, isn't because you swore to hunt me down?"

Jack took a step back. "Shut up!" he snarled.

The vampire laughed again, knowing that he had pushed a button that triggered the other man's anger. "I think the reason you're still walking this earth is because _He _doesn't want you. See, I chose not to go with him."

"You betrayed him!" Jack exclaimed. "You betrayed _me_, Judas," he added, anger gone from his voice and replaced by a quiet sadness. "After everything we'd been through…"

Ianto didn't respond to Jack's words. "I know why I'm still here, but you… you're family. Your place in paradise should be guaranteed. So why haven't you taken your place as the Son of God; the older brother to the 'Saviour of Mankind' is still a rather respectable title."

Jack glared darkly at him, although he didn't verbally respond. "I wouldn't be surprised if you had tried to go home several times over the centuries and, each time Daddy's told you that the timing wasn't right."

The other man's eyes narrowed. "You don't know what you're talking about," he hissed.

"Oh, really?" Ianto purred, smirking when he saw that his words had gotten the desired reaction from Jack. "Guess what, _lover," _he said, a slightly scornful tone to his voice, "your timing hasn't been right for millennia. You should accept the fact that you'll never be the son Gray is. Not even bringing me down will win you any favours; you'll always be second best. He'll never want you by his side.

Jack dropped the sword and punched Ianto hard. He hit him so hard and the attack was so unexpected that he fell to the ground, a look of disbelief on his face.

"Did you just punch me?" Ianto asked, an incredulous tone to his voice as he clutched his jaw, wincing a little at the pain he felt shoot across his face.

Jack didn't speak as he took a step forward, wrapping the chain around Ianto's neck before he could be stopped. "What are you doing?" Ianto demanded, trying to move away from Jack, but the other man wasn't letting him move. "I don't breathe; surely you're not stupid enough to think you can strangle me."

The other man rolled his eyes. "I'm not trying to strangle you," he stated, tightening his hold on the chain and dragging Ianto across the roof, ignoring the shouts of irritation from the vampire. "I figure it's-," He glanced at his watch. "Almost dawn and, last time I checked that means the sun's about to rise. Now, I don't know how much vampire lore you've read; but almost all of what I've managed to find says that vampires can't go out in the sunlight."

With one hand, he fastened the chain to a nearby hook – briefly wondering what it was there for, but dismissing the thought quickly. He glanced down at Ianto, before he rolled him to the edge of the building, watching as he fell over the ledge, hanging by his neck several feet above the ground below them. "I would say it was nice knowing you, but…" He shrugged his shoulders when the other man glared at him.

"I'm going to get out of this and rip your throat out, Joseph," he stated, his eyes flashing in anger.

Jack laughed and rolled his eyes, stepping away from ledge and moving back to where he had dropped the sword earlier. He paused when the door opened and Alejandro appeared with Alice; the Welshman was pressing a handkerchief to his nose with an irritation expression on his face. "What happened to you?" Jack asked with a smirk on his face.

"I punched him," Alice stated, a guilty expression on her face. "I'm sorry," she said, looking over at Alejandro with regret.

The other police officer rolled his eyes. "I've already told you; stop apologising. It wasn't you," he added.

Jack frowned deeply and glanced at his daughter. "Do you know what happened to you?" he questioned.

Alice shook her head. "I remember him arriving at home, and then nothing until Alejandro hit me," she stated.

Jack laughed deeply and shook his head at the expression on her face. "I wonder what broke his hold on you," he mused aloud.

"I lost concentration when you arrived," Ianto's voice floated from over the edge of the building.

Alice frowned and glanced around them. "Where is he?" she demanded. Jack pointed to the chain and she laughed, rolling her eyes. "What are you going to do?" she asked. "Just let him hang there and hope he rots."

As she finished speaking, the first rays of sunlight began to shine over the city. Alice let out a small yell when flames erupted from where Ianto was hanging. "Sunlight really does kill him?" she asked in disbelief.

Jack shrugged his shoulders, moving to the edge of the building and glancing down at the body below him, trying to remember to breathe through his mouth so he didn't inhale the smelling of burning flesh. "It looks that way," he whispered. "I really does look that way."

Twenty minutes later, Jack finally managed to convince Alejandro and Alice to let him deal with Ianto's body, which was still burning away in the early morning sunlight.

He stood on the edge of the building and watched as Alejandro practically forced Alice into his car – she was stubborn and Jack could tell that she didn't want to leave her father alone. He kept his eyes on the car as it set off and eventually disappeared beyond a row of buildings in the distance. As he watched, he grimaced as the smell of charred flesh filtered through his nostrils from the still blazing body beneath him.

Once he was sure Alice and Alejandro were a safe distance away, he glanced back down at the body, which was still blazing intently, and sighed. "You can quit with the theatrics," he said, putting his hands in his pockets and resting his foot on the ledge of the building. "You're not fooling anyone anymore."

After a moments pause, the body stopped blazing and a charred head looked up at him. "How did you know?" Ianto asked, his voice raspy from the chain around his neck.

Jack reached down and grabbed the chain, pulling the other man back to the roof as hard as he could. "That you were faking it?" he asked, shrugging his shoulders. "I guess I just know you too well, Judas," he replied. His eyes flickered over to the horizon and the slowly rising sun. "Did you know sunlight wouldn't affect you?" Jack asked, his eyes turning back to Ianto who had removed the chain from around his neck. His skin was already healing itself and returning to its natural colour.

Ianto shook his head, running his hand over his hair and grinning when he felt that it was already growing back. "I've never tried going out during the day; there's more freaks out at night anyway."

They were silent for a moment, before Jack sighed and strode across the rooftop to the door that led down the stairs.

"Joseph?" Ianto called after him and Jack paused, his hand on the door handle as he slowly turned to face the other man. "Why aren't you killing me?" he questioned.

Jack shrugged his shoulders, turning the handle and pulling the door open. "Just go, Judas," he whispered. "You won this time. Just go! Get out of Cardiff and leave Alice alone."

He turned his back on Ianto and slowly made his way down the stairs, leaving the other man alone on the rooftop.

It was almost an hour later when Jack returned to Alice's house to find his daughter and her partner waiting anxiously for him.

"Dad!" Alice cried the instant Jack had stepped through the door. She ran across the room and threw her arms around Jack, hugging Jack as tight as she could and almost completely knocking the wind out of him.

Jack grinned and pressed a kiss against her forehead, hugging tightly for a moment, before taking a step back and giving her the once over. "Are you okay?" he asked, trying to look for any indication that she was hurt in anyway. Alice nodded her head, assuring him that she was perfectly fine, and Jack glanced over at Alejandro. "You okay, Ramos?" he added.

Alejandro nodded his head. "Yes, Sir," he murmured.

The older man grimaced. "Please don't call me that. It makes me sound old," he muttered. When Alice laughed, his mouth dropped open as he glared at her. "Are you saying I _am _old?" he spluttered, an affronted look on his face.

"Of course not," she assured him, smirking as she rolled her eyes.

Jack scoffed and pressed a kiss to her forehead, before moving away from her and sitting down on the couch. "I'm exhausted," he stated, running his hand over his face and yawning widely.

"I'm not surprised," Alice retorted, sitting next to him and pulling Alejandro down onto the couch when her partner remained standing. "You _have_ been chasing him for almost two-thousand years," she added.

Jack groaned to himself and leant back against the couch, closing his eyes. "Don't remind me," he grumbled.

They were silent for several minutes, the only sound coming from the ticking of the clock on the wall, before Alice whispered, "Are you going home now?"

Jack forced his eyes open and looked at his daughter who was staring at him with a fearful expression on her face. "I'm going back to Chicago," he stated.

Alice shook her head. "No… I mean, are you going _home_?" she asked, putting extra emphasis on the word.

"Oh," Jack murmured, realising that she was asking if he was going back to his father and brother. "Maybe," he replied, reaching out and pulling her into his arms. "But not any time soon," he added when he felt her draw in a deep breath. Almost immediately, Alice relaxed and Jack smiled, tightening his hold on her and running his hands up and down her back. "Don't worry; I'm not leaving you here. I'm going back to the States, but I'll always only be a phone call away."

Alice grinned and pulled away, looking to his eyes for a sign that he might be lying to her. "Really?" she breathed when she decided that she couldn't see anything. Jack nodded his head and the smile on her face widened even further, before she hugging his tightly.

"Sorry, Sir," Alejandro interrupted. "Jack," he corrected himself when the older man glared at him. "But, he is dead, isn't he? Judas, I mean. He's not going to come back from the dead in a few days and come after us?"

Jack shook his head, smiling at them with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "He definitely dead," he murmured. "I waited until his body was completely destroyed and scattered his ashes in the bay."

Alice let out a breath and Jack briefly wondered if she knew she had even been holding it. "That's good," she breathed, smiling at Jack. "Thank you," she added.

He smirked and tapped two fingers to his temple. "No problem, ma'am," he purred, exaggerating his accent considerably. He turned his gaze to Alejandro and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You'll take care of her for me?" he asked, staring at him intently.

Alejandro nodded, with a solemn expression on his face. "I'll protect her with my life, Jack," he assured the older man, a grin on his face when he realised that he'd remembered to call Jack by his chosen name.

Alice reached over and placed her hand over her partner's, flashing him a grateful smile and squeezing his hand softly, drawing a brilliant grin from Alejandro.

Jack grinned as he stepped off the plane; it was nice to have fresh air in his lungs again, rather than the recycled air that had been pumped through the airplane's filtering system. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his sunglasses, slipping them on as he headed down the stairs to the tarmac. As he reached the bottom, he nodded his thanks to the stewardess and hoisted his bag further up his shoulder as he stepped away.

Twenty-feet away from the plane there was a shiny black car waiting for him. The smile that had been on his face vanished when he realised that there was a very familiar figure leaning against the boot of the car. It was difficult to tell through the bright light, but Jack thought that the other man was looking back at him with a smirk on his face.

"I should have known you'd be waiting for me," Jack commented as he got closer, squinting through the sunlight that was still ridiculously bright, even through his dark sunglasses.

When he was standing little more than three feet away from Ianto, he pushed his sunglasses up to the top of his head and spent a moment admiring his features. "You're looking tanned," he stated. Ianto was a golden brown colour and it made Jack slightly envious when he thought about pale he must look in comparison. "Where've you been, Mercury?" he added, moving past Ianto and opening the boot of the car.

Ianto rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pockets. "St Lucia, actually," he corrected.

"Taking advantage of the fact that sunlight can't kill you, I see," Jack retorted, placing his bag in the boot and slamming it closed. He looked up when he heard footsteps approach and saw Ianto standing next to him with a slightly puzzled expression on his face. "What's wrong with you?" Jack questioned, leaning against the car as he looked at the other man.

He didn't answer for a moment, before he finally asked, "Why didn't you kill me?"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "What, you'd prefer if I'd killed you?" he asked, scoffing and rolling his eyes.

Ianto glared at him. "Of course not," he snapped, his eyes flashing in irritation. "But, you had the opportunity to kill me. You could have driven a sword through me and dumped me in the middle of the ocean, or something." Jack nodded his head in agreement. "So, why didn't you?" he demanded.

Jack heaved a sigh and ran the tips of his fingers over the shiny black surface of the boot. "I suppose… Well, I guess don't want to prove you right," he confessed.

Ianto's forehead creased as he frowned in confusion. "Who do you mean?" he asked, his voice barely audible over the sound of technicians refuelling the plane behind them.

There was silence as Jack contemplated what he was going to say. "What if I kill you and then can't die myself?" he asked. "I'll be left wandering this earth on my own for the rest of eternity."

"So, instead, you'd rather be stuck with me?" Ianto scoffed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes. "I can't imagine you preferring this," he indicated to the area around him, "to a place in paradise."

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "It's a like you said; I'm the older brother to the Son of God, I should be sitting there with him. But… I don't know," he murmured, breathing deeply. "I know it makes no sense; but, for the past two thousand years, you've been the one constant in my life." Ianto raised a questioning eyebrow. "We've been hunting each for so long; I can't imagine not living a life that's like this." Ianto nodded his head, silently telling Jack that he knew what the other man was talking about. "What can I say," Jack murmured, the corners of his lips turning up in a smirk. "I suppose killing you was harder than I thought."

Ianto threw his head back and laughed; it wasn't a sadistic, mocking laugh, but a very real laugh that was full of warmth and genuine amusement. "Well, I'm glad I'm not that easy to kill," he stated.

"Where did you learn that little party trick?" Jack asked, thinking back to the stunt Ianto had pulled when he'd set on fire.

"A shaman in Europe," Ianto answered. "He'd pulled away from the tribe and taken to studying the darker side of the faith." Jack let out a murmur of understanding. "I suppose I hoped that you didn't know me as well as you do. You thinking that I was dead would have made my life easier, if not more a hell of a lot more boring. There'd be no-one trying to kill me," he added, his lips forming a mocking pout. "Even if you're never going to succeed."

Jack scoffed and shook his head. "You're a little full of yourself, aren't you?" he said. "Same old Judas," he added, rolling his eyes.

Ianto winked at him. "Just so you know, I hope you don't think that this means I'm going to change my ways," he cautioned. "I'm a killer, Joseph; I have been for millennia. I don't think I know any other way; and I don't want to stop."

Jack nodded, a solemn expression on his face as he regarded the man before him. "I understand that," he murmured. "And, I've got to admit, that I wouldn't want you any other way. But don't think that I'm going to stop hunting you. I'm a hunter; it's what I do, Judas."

"I honestly don't think you'll be able to kill me, but it's more interesting if you keep trying," Ianto chuckled to himself.

Jack's eyes narrowed. "I doubt you're as immortal as you think you are, Judas," he stated.

"I think you're wrong," Ianto argued, folding his arms across his chest as he stared at Jack intently. "I've drowned, been set on fire and had a stake plunged through my heart. None of the conventional methods to kill a vampire have worked; how do you know what will kill me?"

"I'm sure I'll find a way at some point," Jack muttered, a petulant expression on his face.

Ianto make a disapproving noise in the back of his throat and leant against the boot of the car, turning so he could look at Jack properly. "I think the reason that nothing has been able to kill me is because I'm the one that made the choice to live – figuratively speaking – like this, no one can take that away from me. That choice won't be made for a long time, though; I haven't gotten bored of the taste of blood, yet. I might decide at some point, but for the moment, I'm good." He shrugged his shoulders. "Besides, we both know I'll be burning in hell for the rest of eternity when I get there; so I'm in no rush, thank you very much."

Jack was silent for a moment as he thought about what Ianto was saying. "Have you always known that?" he finally asked, turning his head and looking at Ianto.

The other man shook his head. "It's been three weeks since we last saw each other in Cardiff, Joseph," he pointed out. "Lying in the sun all day is very relaxing; you should try it sometime."

Jack laughed and rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the tip," he murmured. "I'll remember that next time I go to the travel agents." He stepped away from the car, moving around Ianto and heading for the door to the back of the vehicle; he imagined the driver was probably getting irritated for having to wait so long for him. "Who knows, I may join you in hell when the time comes," he added, glancing over his shoulder at Ianto as he walked. "I'm not sure how receptive they'd be to the idea of having me home after all this time. Hell might be the only option for me, and I'm not willing to go there just yet."

He opened the door and paused, turning back to the other man. "Judas, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from Alice. She thinks you're dead and I want it to stay that way." Ianto smirked as was about to open his mouth to retort, before Jack interrupted with a shake of his head. "No, Judas," he said adamantly. "I mean it; I don't want you anywhere near her, or I _will _find a way to kill you. Even if I have to make you stab yourself, I will manage it."

Ianto scowled and was about to tell Jack that he wasn't about let himself be told what to do. He sighed heavily and reluctantly nodded his head. "Fine," he muttered, the petulance in his voice echoing Jack's earlier tone. "You always were fiercely protective of people," he stated. He hesitated for a moment – the first time in centuries, Jack presumed – before taking a step forward and kissing Jack passionately, filling the other man's mind with memories of stolen moments and lingering touches from the past.

"And you're as arrogant as always," Jack retorted. "Thinking you can get away with anything just by turning on the charm. But," he added with a shrug of his shoulders, "I suppose you wouldn't be the same if you weren't," he confessed, taking a step away from Ianto and climbing into the car. He closed the door behind him and rolled down the window, squinting once again at the intrusion of sunlight. "I suppose we'll be seeing each other soon," he stated, looking up in the other man's eyes.

Ianto nodded his head. "I'm not going to make it easy and tell you how long I'll stay away," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out his own pair of sunglasses, sliding them on. "I've got to keep you on your toes; make sure you don't get complacent."

Jack laughed and rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't get complacent," he retorted. "Be seeing you," he added, nodding in greeting before rolling the window back up and instructing the driver that he was ready to leave.

As they pulled away from the airport, Jack turned his head and looked back at the tarmac, seeing nothing behind the car; Ianto had already disappeared.

The End


End file.
